New Banquet Items Available

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant has made a name for itself with its ever-evolving menu, giving even the most dedicated regulars something new to look forward to.

Most recently, Jade Dynasty has revamped its banquet menu to incorporate a number of new items.

“This will include some banquet items that you normally can’t find in other restaurants,” says general manager Gary Chan.

A new item that will be incorporated into the banquet menu is Lobster with Mochi Rice (market price), which also is available as an individual dish.

A whole lobster is steamed in a lotus leaf on top of the mochi rice, which features preserved meat, including lap cheong. This dish also comes with the option of adding crab instead of lobster.

“The mochi rice will absorb all of the juices from the crab or the lobster,” Chan says.

Another new option is a plentiful appetizer filled with the seafood of your choice. Enter Oyster Boat, Crab Boat and Seafood Boat. For each option, the seafood is rolled out on a hand-crafted boat-shaped platter.

“It is very impressive,” Chan says of the boats, which were custom made in China. “It has lights on it and smoke coming out.”

The oysters in the Oyster Boat can be prepared with a variety of sauces, including a meat sauce. The Crab Boat features a whole crab, while the Seafood Boat features shrimp, abalone and clams. Diners also can substitute items in the boats for other seafood options.

To order these separately from the banquet menu, they are priced at $55 per boat and can serve about five people.

Another new selection is Braised Pork Ribs, which features tender, melt-in-your-mouth ribs that are bathed in a sweet sauce (Jade Dynasty’s secret recipe). Diners also can order buns to go along with the ribs.

“We braise it for a long time, so it just falls off the bone,” Chan says.

The dish also appears on the regular menu for $18.95. There’s an additional cost of $2 for four buns.

All of these new banquet items are available today.

The restaurant can seat close to 330 guests for a banquet party. For smaller parties, parts of the restaurant can be sectioned off. The restaurant also has a stage, and is set up for audio and video presentations.

Plus, Jade Dynasty offers a good deal: The managers will take care of basic video needs to eliminate the cost of hiring help. For more complicated audio/visual needs, Jade Dynasty has reasonable referrals.

The banquet menu starts at $238. Guests also can substitute other items to create their ideal feast.

“You can have a lot of choices. There is a big range for people to choose from,” Chan says.

On the Side

“A lot of our dishes are traditional, but then some have evolved,” explains general manager Gary Chan. “You want to evolve with people.”

Today, Chan says, the average diner’s palate tends to be much more sophisticated.

One way that Jade Dynasty gets its cutting-edge inspiration is with frequent trips to Hong Kong and China. Each year, the restaurant sends either its chef or its dim sum chef on a work trip. There, the chefs have the opportunity to work at Jade Dynasty’s sister restaurants and learn new recipes and techniques.

“They see what dishes they think will do well here and they will have a chance to practice cooking it there,” Chan says. “By the time they come back, they have it all down.

“They get a lot of inspiration from these other restaurants. In Hong Kong and China, they are constantly creating (dishes). When we send our chefs there, then we really learn from them, which I think is really good.”

Contact Christina O’Connor at diningout@staradvertiser.com

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

Ala Moana Center Fourth floor
1450 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 4220
947-8818
10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily